Last updated 19 Oct 2026 · reviewed by the Essentras editorial team

Amazon for sellers and brands

How to remove an Amazon review (and what Amazon will not remove)

The short answer

Only Amazon or the reviewer can remove an Amazon product review. Amazon removes reviews that break its Community Guidelines, such as paid or incentivized reviews, conflicts of interest, comments only about the seller or shipping, or harassment. Select Report under the review; Amazon decides, and it does not remove a compliant review because it is negative.

Checked on 19 Oct 2026 against Amazon’s Community Guidelines, Seller Central help, a live product page and Amazon’s own fake review reportsWritten by the Essentras editorial team

Essentras is not affiliated with Amazon and does not remove Amazon reviews. Amazon decides every report; every route on this page is free.

Start here in 1 click Get a free case read

Free decision table

Start here in 1 click

Find what the review says, then click your move to jump to the steps. Every rule in the table comes from Amazon’s own pages, read on 19 Oct 2026.

What the review is	Amazon’s rule	Your move	Proof that helps	Who decides
You wrote the review and want it gone	Only the person who wrote a review can edit or delete it	Delete it in Your Profile	None: it is your review	You
By the brand, a competitor, an employee, or friends and family	Ads, conflicts of interest, promotional content	Report	The reviewer’s public link to a competitor	Amazon
Written for a refund, gift card, free product or discount	Compensated or incentivized reviews (Vine is the labeled exception)	Report	The offer, insert card or message	Amazon
Only about the seller, delivery, packaging, returns or damage	Seller, order, or shipping feedback is not a product review	Report	The review text itself	Amazon
Profanity, threats, hate speech, harassment or libel	Profanity or harassment; Hate speech	Report	A dated screenshot	Amazon
A phone number, email, address or order number	Private information	Report	A screenshot; never repeat the detail	Amazon
Links to other sites, ads, spam or gibberish	External links; Repetitive text, spam	Report	The review text itself	Amazon
Posted before the item could have arrived	Reviews must come from actual experience with the product	Report	Your order and delivery dates	Amazon
A burst of fake 1-star reviews from a competitor	Competitor attacks go to Report Abuse	Report Abuse	Review links, dates and the pattern	Amazon
A customer threatens a bad review unless you refund or send something	Report the customer from the Account Health dashboard	Report Abuse	The Buyer-Seller messages	Amazon
Someone offered to create, edit or remove reviews for payment	The Report Review Compensation form	Report the offer	The offer, with up to 4 images	Amazon
An honest 1-star review about the product	Stays: Amazon keeps compliant reviews	Fix it, then help the customer	Not needed	The reviewer, who can edit it
Amazon kept a review you reported	No appeal is stated; removal is at Amazon’s discretion	What you can still do	Only new evidence	Amazon
It is seller feedback on your seller profile, not a product review	Seller feedback has its own policy and Feedback Manager	Our seller feedback guide	The order ID	Amazon
You sell in the EU and the review breaks EU law	Report an issue with this product, then a notice dispute within 180 days	The EU route	Why it is illegal, and the exact link	Amazon (out-of-court bodies are not binding)

Amazon says only the author can edit a review and only Amazon can suppress it; neither Amazon nor sellers can edit a review or ask customers to edit or remove it.

Not sure which row you are in?

Send us the link to the review and the ASIN. A specialist replies by email with an honest read: which of Amazon’s rules fits and how to report it, or that it will stay and what to do instead. Free, with no obligation. We never ask for your Seller Central login: you file every report yourself.

Get a free case read

There is no paid shortcut

Amazon decides every report, says review removal is at its discretion, and does not disclose the results of its investigations. Essentras does not sell Amazon review removal, and no payment to anyone changes Amazon’s decision. Our paid removal service covers Google reviews only.

Key facts, checked on 19 Oct 2026

Amazon says it proactively blocked over 275 million suspected fake reviews in 2024, after more than 250 million in 2023.
About Amazon: actions against fake review brokers (updated 8 Oct 2025)
For 2025 Amazon gives no exact count: it says it blocked “hundreds of millions” of suspected fake reviews, and its legal actions shut down more than 100 websites facilitating fake reviews and scams.
About Amazon, 22 Apr 2026
Amazon says it analyzes 100% of product reviews before they are posted, with machine learning models and expert human investigators.
Amazon Trustworthy Shopping: a trusted review experience
To post reviews, including star ratings, a customer must have spent $50 on Amazon.com with a credit or debit card in the past 12 months; promotional discounts do not count.
Amazon: Community Guidelines
Seller Central on negative reviews: “As long as the review complies with our guidelines, we will not remove it.” Removal is at Amazon’s discretion.
Amazon Seller Central: answers to questions about reviews
Once a review is posted, Amazon says only its author can edit it and only Amazon can suppress it; sellers may not ask customers to edit or remove a review.
Amazon Trustworthy Shopping: a trusted review experience
Amazon does not notify sellers when reviews of their products are posted or removed.
Amazon Seller Central: answers to questions about reviews
For review abuse, Amazon can permanently withdraw selling privileges, withhold funds, remove all of a product’s reviews and block new ones, delist the product, sue, and publish the seller’s name.
Amazon Seller Central: customer product reviews policies

Amazon’s rules

What Amazon removes from product reviews, and what it keeps

Amazon’s Community Guidelines are the test. Amazon asks for honest opinions, positive or negative, and says it will not remove a review that complies with its guidelines. It removes, or never publishes, reviews that break them.

First, check what you are looking at

	Product review	Seller feedback
What it rates	The product: quality, usability, performance	The customer’s experience with the seller: shipping, packaging, customer service
Where it appears	On the product detail page, under Customer Reviews	On the seller’s profile and offers
Who can post	Customers who spent $50 on Amazon.com with a credit or debit card in the past 12 months	The buyer of that order, within 90 days of the order date
How you challenge it	Report, under the review	Request review in Feedback Manager, within 90 days of the feedback
Our guide	This page	How to remove negative seller feedback on Amazon

Amazon’s rules for reviews, and when each fits a report

Amazon’s own category names, from its Community Guidelines. If the review fits no row, it needs a better product or listing, not a report.

Amazon’s rule	What it says	Report under it when
Seller, order, or shipping feedback	No reviews that only cover the seller, ordering and returns, packaging, condition and damage, or shipping cost and speed	The review rates your delivery or service, not the product
Comments about pricing or availability	Price is fine when it is about the product’s value; prices seen elsewhere and stock at a specific store are not	The review is about a price elsewhere or a store’s stock
Ads, conflicts of interest, promotional content	No reviews of your own products, or those of friends, relatives, employers, associates or competitors; no reviews by anyone with a financial interest	You can show the reviewer’s link to a competitor or to the brand
Compensated or incentivized reviews	No review created, edited or removed for payment, refunds, discounts, products, gift cards or warranties; no review before delivery	You have the offer, the insert card or the message
Profanity or harassment	No profanity, name-calling, harassment, threats, libel, defamation or inflammatory content, and no posting from several accounts to drown out others	The words are abusive, or several accounts post the same attack
Hate speech	No hatred of people for traits such as race, religion, gender identity or disability	The text attacks a group
Private information	No phone numbers, email or mailing addresses, license plates or order numbers	Personal details appear in the review
External links	Links to other Amazon products only; no external sites, phishing or affiliate codes	The review links off Amazon
Repetitive text, spam, or pictures created with symbols	No repetitive text, gibberish, symbol-only content or ASCII art	The review is spam or nonsense
Content written in unsupported languages	Amazon.com supports English and Spanish; no mixed-language reviews	The review is in another language
Plagiarism, infringement, or impersonation	Only your own content, or content you have permission to use; no impersonation	The text or photos are copied, or someone poses as your brand
Illegal activities and medical claims	No encouragement of illegal acts; no claims to cure serious medical conditions	The review makes such a claim

What Amazon allows, so a report will not work

Honest negative reviews

Amazon asks reviewers for their sincere opinion, positive or negative, and says it will not remove a review that complies with its guidelines.

Star ratings without text

Eligible customers can leave 1 to 5 stars without writing a review. Amazon says ratings with no text and no Verified Purchase status do not count in the overall rating until the customer adds details.

Vine reviews

Free products through Amazon Vine are allowed, and the reviews are labeled “Vine Customer Review of a free product.” Amazon does not edit Vine reviews or remove compliant ones.

Deals open to everyone

A review of a product bought at a discount available to all customers, such as a Lightning Deal, is allowed.

Neutral review requests

Sellers may ask for an honest review in a neutral way. Amazon’s own example: “Please share your honest feedback experience with our product by leaving a review!”

Usually removed after a report

A review only about delivery, packaging or your customer service
A review by a competitor, an employee or the brand’s friends and family, when the link can be shown
A review written for a refund, gift card or free product outside Vine
Threats, hate speech, profanity, libel or personal details
Links, ads, spam, or a review posted before the item could arrive

Usually stays up

A real customer’s 1-star review of the product, however harsh
A comment that the product is not worth its price
A compliant Vine review you dislike
A star rating with no text from an eligible customer
A review you suspect is fake but cannot show

Amazon does not notify sellers when reviews are posted or removed, so check your product pages yourself.

Amazon’s own pages:Amazon: Community Guidelines Amazon: Customer Reviews Amazon: Understanding Customer Reviews and Ratings Amazon: About Promotional Content

Step by step

How to report an Amazon review, step by step

Anyone can report a review with the Report button under it, and Amazon checks it against its Community Guidelines. Sellers have 2 more routes in Seller Central, for competitor attacks and for customers who threaten reviews. The steps come from Amazon’s Community Guidelines, Seller Central help and its live product pages.

How to report a product review on Amazon

01Find the reviewOpen the product detail page and scroll to Customer Reviews. Copy the review’s link and take a dated screenshot before you report it.
02Match it to 1 ruleCheck the review against Amazon’s rules above. If no rule fits, do not report it: Amazon keeps compliant reviews.
03Select ReportSelect Report, the button below the review. Amazon’s dialog says it will check whether the review meets its community guidelines and remove it if it does not.
04Confirm itFollow the prompts and confirm. Amazon’s guidelines say the popup lets you choose a reason; the page then says Amazon will investigate in the next few days.
05Sellers: report the patternFor a competitor attack, go to Seller Central, select the Help icon, then Get Support or your Account Health dashboard, then Report Abuse. Choose the violation type and give the details (templates 1 to 3).
06Keep recordsAmazon does not disclose the results of its investigations and does not tell sellers when reviews are removed. Check the product page, and keep your screenshots and dates.

Brand owners with the Customer Reviews tool in Brand Registry can open a review with Show Review Details and report it from the product page. Seller feedback works differently: Request review in Feedback Manager within 90 days, as our seller feedback guide explains.

Which route for which problem

Problem	Route	Where	What Amazon says about the result
A review that breaks the guidelines	Report	Under the review, on the product page	It investigates; the page says in the next few days
A competitor attacking your product	Report Abuse	Seller Central: Help, then Get Support or the Account Health dashboard	Results cannot be disclosed, for privacy reasons
A customer threatening a negative review	Report Abuse	Seller Central: the Account Health dashboard	Results cannot be disclosed
An offer to create, edit or remove reviews for payment	Report Review Compensation form	Linked from the Community Guidelines; sign-in needed	It investigates and takes appropriate action
A product or listing problem, or illegal content in the EU	Report an issue with this product or seller	The product detail page	In the EU, a rejected notice can be disputed within 180 days
Seller feedback, not a review	Request review	Feedback Manager, within 90 days	Approved or Denied, then 1 Appeal Decision

Amazon’s pages call the review button Report, and a Trustworthy Shopping page calls it Report abuse; the live product page shows Report. Brand Registry’s Report a Violation tool covers intellectual property, store policy and regulatory issues; Amazon’s pages do not list reviews there.

You wrote the review? Delete or edit it yourself

Amazon says you can edit or delete your reviews in Your Profile: choose the review in the Community activity section. Only the author can edit a review. If Amazon removed your review for breaking its guidelines, you cannot review that product again.

Amazon: Edit Your Reviews

Amazon’s own pages:Amazon: Community Guidelines, How to report violations Amazon Seller Central: Report a violation Amazon Seller Central: answers to questions about reviews Amazon: Customer Reviews tool for brands

Fake reviews

Fake reviews and review attacks: what Amazon does, and what to send it

Amazon fights fake reviews at scale, mostly before customers see them, and sues the brokers who sell them. A seller’s part is to report what Amazon cannot see from the review alone: the offer, the pattern, the threat.

Amazon’s fake review numbers, by year

Year	What Amazon reports	Source
2022	More than 200 million suspected fake reviews blocked in its stores worldwide	About Amazon, 17 Nov 2023
2023	More than 250 million suspected fake reviews blocked, and legal action against more than 150 bad actors in the US, China and Europe	About Amazon, fake review brokers
2024	Over 275 million suspected fake reviews blocked, and enforcement actions against thousands of bad actors	About Amazon, fake review brokers
2025	“Hundreds of millions” of suspected fake reviews blocked; legal actions shut down more than 100 websites facilitating fake reviews and scams	About Amazon, 22 Apr 2026

Amazon gives no exact 2025 count and no count of reviews removed after posting. It says it took legal action against 115 fake review brokers in the 2 years before Nov 2025, and filed its first lawsuit against brokers in 2015.

How Amazon checks reviews

Before posting

Amazon says it analyzes 100% of product reviews before they are posted, using machine learning models and human investigators, and that most reviews pass and post right away.

After posting

Only Amazon can suppress a live review. When it is confident a review is fake, it says it moves quickly to block or remove it and takes further action when necessary.

When activity looks wrong

Amazon can stop accepting reviews on a product, or accept and show only Verified Purchase reviews, when it detects unusual reviewing activity.

What Amazon can do to a seller who manipulates reviews

Permanently withdraw selling privileges and withhold funds.
Remove all of the product’s reviews and stop it from receiving new reviews or ratings.
Permanently delist the product.
Take legal action, including lawsuits and referral to civil and criminal enforcement authorities.
Disclose the seller’s name and related information publicly.
Hold the seller responsible for business partners, employees and agencies, even when it happened without the seller’s knowledge.

What to send when you report an attack

Amazon cannot act on a hunch. Send the review links and dates, and what ties them together: a burst on the same days, the same wording, a reviewer’s public link to a competitor, or the offer that paid for them (templates 1 to 4). Never answer with counter-reviews from friends or staff: that breaks Amazon’s rules and the FTC rule.

Amazon Seller Central: Report a violation

Amazon’s own pages:Amazon: Anti-Manipulation Policy for Customer Reviews Amazon Seller Central: customer product reviews policies Amazon Trustworthy Shopping: a trusted review experience Amazon Trustworthy Shopping: global action against fake reviews (7 Nov 2025)

If it stays

If Amazon keeps the review: what a seller can still do

Amazon states no appeal for a declined review report and does not tell sellers the result. What is left is fixing the customer’s problem, fixing the product or the listing, and earning more honest reviews inside Amazon’s rules.

New evidence only

Amazon describes no second look at a review report. If new evidence appears, such as a reviewer’s link to a competitor or a pattern across your listings, report it through Report Abuse with that evidence. Otherwise, move on.

Help the customer, inside Amazon

All customer service, including answers to negative reviews, must go through Buyer-Seller Messaging. You may offer a replacement or refund to fix a problem, but never ask the customer to update or remove the review, even after the fix.

Amazon Seller Central: answers to questions about reviews

Brand owners and critical reviews

Seller Central help for the Customer Reviews tool says brand representatives cannot contact customers unless the customer started the contact. Amazon’s seller marketing page still describes a Contact Customer button for ratings under 3 stars, so follow what your account shows.

Amazon Seller Central: Contact customer

Fix the product page

If reviews say the product is not what the page promised, correct the detail page: size, materials, compatibility, instructions. Reviews about a real problem keep coming until the product or the page changes.

Ask for reviews the allowed way

Use Request a Review on the Order Details page, once per order, between 5 and 30 days after delivery. It sends 1 standard email asking for a product review and seller feedback; Amazon already sends automated requests for most products.

Amazon Seller Central: Request a review

Vine for products with few reviews

Brand owners can enroll products with fewer than 30 reviews in Amazon Vine, where invited reviewers get free products and post labeled, honest reviews. Amazon does not remove compliant Vine reviews, so only enroll a product you trust.

Amazon Seller Central: Amazon Vine

What sellers may not do, under Amazon’s rules

Ask a customer to change or remove a review, even during a return or replacement.
Offer money, gift cards, discounts, refunds, replacements or future benefits for a review.
Ask only happy customers for reviews, or steer unhappy ones to a different channel first.
Contact customers outside Buyer-Seller Messaging, or put personal contact details in packaging.
Send more than 1 review request per order.
Use the Helpful, Not Helpful or Report Abuse features to game reviews on your own or a competitor’s products.
Link unrelated products as variations to pool their star ratings.

Can a seller reply to a product review?

Amazon’s Seller Central help documents public replies for seller feedback, not for product reviews. A seller marketing page mentions replies to customer reviews in the Amazon Seller app, but no Seller Central help page documents them. Treat Buyer-Seller Messaging and a better product page as your answer.

Amazon Seller Central: respond to buyer feedback

Amazon’s own pages:Amazon Seller Central: inappropriate product reviews Amazon Seller Central: communication guidelines Amazon Seller Central: reviews shared across variations Amazon Seller Central: Vine FAQ

Legal routes

Legal routes: defamation, the FTC rule and the EU

The law matters when a review states something false as fact, and when a seller is tempted to buy or bully reviews away. In the US, a claim over a review runs against the person who wrote it, not Amazon.

Report it first

Amazon’s Community Guidelines list libel, defamation and inflammatory content as not allowed, under Profanity or harassment. A review that states something false about you can be reported before any legal step.

Amazon: Community Guidelines

Who you act against (US)

Section 230 says no provider of an interactive computer service is treated as the publisher of information another person provides. A defamation claim over a review therefore generally runs against its author.

47 U.S.C. 230 (Cornell LII)

Fact or opinion

Defamation generally needs a false statement presented as fact, published to others, fault and harm. Opinions are generally protected, but the US Supreme Court held in 1990 that calling a statement opinion does not protect a false fact it implies.

Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1 (1990)

Your terms cannot gag buyers (US)

The Consumer Review Fairness Act voids form-contract terms that bar customers from reviewing you, fine them for it, or take the intellectual property rights in their reviews, and makes offering such terms unlawful. Keep such clauses out of inserts, warranties and website terms.

FTC: Consumer Review Fairness Act, what businesses need to know (Feb 2017)

Amazon’s EU stores

In the EU, use Report an issue with this product on the detail page. If Amazon rejects the notice, the person who filed it can use the notice dispute form within 180 days, then a certified out-of-court body, whose decisions do not bind you or Amazon.

Amazon.de: report an issue or illegal content

What an EU notice needs

Under the Digital Services Act, a notice explains why the content is illegal and gives its exact location, your name and email, and a good-faith statement. Platforms must handle complaints about their decisions for at least 6 months.

Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Digital Services Act (EUR-Lex)

The FTC rule on reviews, 16 CFR Part 465, in force since 21 Oct 2024

Section	What it bans	What it means for an Amazon seller
465.2	Writing, creating or selling fake consumer reviews, and buying reviews, or getting reviews from staff or their relatives, that the business knew or should have known were fake	No fake reviews of your products, from anyone
465.4	Compensation or other incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment, positive or negative	No refund or gift for a better review, and no paying for bad reviews of a competitor
465.5	Reviews by officers or managers without a clear disclosure, and pushing staff or relatives to post reviews without disclosing the relationship	Owners, managers, staff and their families do not review your products
465.7	Unfounded legal threats, physical threats, intimidation or knowingly or recklessly false public accusations used to prevent or remove a review	No threatening messages to reviewers

Courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations, up to $53,088 per violation (16 CFR 1.98(d), kept for 2026). The FTC says paying customers to change or remove truthful negative reviews may also break the FTC Act. The FTC is enforcing the rule: it warned 10 companies in Dec 2025, and in 2026 it charged a company over reviews its own employees wrote (Apr) and another over fake 5-star reviews used to dilute real 1-star ones (May).

Essentras is not a law firm

This is general information, not legal advice. Talk to a lawyer before any legal step, and never threaten a reviewer: under 16 CFR 465.7, an unfounded legal threat aimed at removing a review is itself unlawful.

When suing over a fake review is worth it

Amazon’s own pages:Amazon.de: out-of-court dispute settlement under the DSA 16 CFR Part 465, Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (eCFR)FTC: Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, questions and answers (Nov 2024)15 U.S.C. 45b, Consumer Review Fairness Act (Cornell LII)

Templates

8 copy-ready texts for Amazon reviews

Templates 1 to 3 go in the details box of Report Abuse in Seller Central; 4 goes in the Report Review Compensation form; 5 and 6 are customer messages and inserts Amazon allows; 7 is an EU notice; 8 is a fact sheet for your lawyer. Replace everything in [square brackets] and delete any line that is not true.

Before you send anything

Name 1 of Amazon’s rules and point to the exact reviews: links, dates, ASIN.
Give Amazon something it can check: a pattern, a public profile, an offer, a message.
Never ask a customer to change or remove a review, and never offer anything for a review.
Keep every customer contact inside Buyer-Seller Messaging, with no personal details.

Template 1: Report Abuse, a competitor attack

When to use it: Several suspicious negative reviews that look coordinated.

Report Abuse details

ASIN: [ASIN]. Product: [title].
Between [date] and [date], [number] negative reviews were posted: [links].
What ties them together: [same wording (quote) / posted within (hours) / reviewers with no other activity / a reviewer whose public profile links to (competitor)].
Our orders show [no matching purchase for (reviewer names), if you can tell / normal sales in that period].
We believe this breaks Amazon's rules on conflicts of interest and review manipulation. Please investigate.

Report what Amazon can verify. Do not accuse a named competitor without proof.

Template 2: Report Abuse, a customer threatening a review

When to use it: A buyer demands a refund, free product or payment in exchange for not posting, or for changing, a negative review.

Report Abuse details

Order ID: [order ID]. On [date], through Buyer-Seller Messaging, the customer wrote: "[quote the demand]".
The customer asks for [a full refund without return / a free product / payment] in exchange for [not posting / changing] a negative review.
We have not agreed to anything. Please review this account under Amazon's policies on review manipulation.

Do not pay and do not bargain: compensation tied to a review breaks Amazon’s rules on both sides.

Template 3: Report Abuse, an insider or paid review

When to use it: You can show the reviewer is tied to a competitor, or was paid or given a product for the review.

Report Abuse details

ASIN: [ASIN]. Review: [link], posted on [date].
The reviewer [is listed as (role) at (competitor) on their public profile: (link) / was offered (refund / gift card / free product) for the review: (screenshot of the offer)].
This is a conflict of interest or a compensated review under Amazon's Community Guidelines.

Template 4: Report Review Compensation form

When to use it: Someone offered you or a customer payment to create, edit or remove reviews: an email, a social media group, an insert card.

Form comment

Product: [product name or ASIN].
On [date], [a message / a post in (group or site) / an insert card in a competitor's package] offered [payment / a refund / a free product] for [a 5-star review / removing a negative review / reviews of (product)].
Attached: [up to 4 screenshots, with dates and the sender's name or link].

Amazon’s form takes the product name, up to 4 images and a detailed comment.

Template 5: Buyer-Seller message to fix the problem

When to use it: After a negative review, to put the problem right. It never mentions the review.

Buyer-Seller Messaging

Hi [first name], we are sorry the [product] did not work as expected. We would like to send you a replacement at no cost [or: refund your order]. Please reply to this message if you would like that, or if anything else is wrong with the order.
[Your name], [store name]

No request to update or remove the review, no incentive, and only through Buyer-Seller Messaging: Amazon bans all the alternatives.

Template 6: A neutral package insert

When to use it: The only kind of review request card Amazon allows in a package.

Insert card

Thank you for your purchase! Feel free to share your honest feedback by leaving a review.
[Optional: We are a small family business, so your product review would mean the world to us.]

Both lines follow Amazon’s own compliant examples. No stars, no “if you are happy”, no gift, no email or phone number.

Template 7: EU notice of illegal content

When to use it: Through Report an issue with this product on an Amazon EU store, only for content that breaks EU or national law.

Notice text

Content: [exact URL of the review].
Why it is illegal: [the statement, quoted] [which law it breaks and why, with the facts that show it].
Notifier: [your name], [business], [email].
I confirm in good faith that this notice is accurate and complete.

If Amazon rejects it, the notice dispute form is open for 180 days, with the complaint ID.

Template 8: Fact sheet for your lawyer

When to use it: Before any legal step over a review that states something false as fact.

Fact sheet

Review: [link], posted on [date], [star rating]. Reviewer name as shown: [name].
Statement we say is false: "[quote]".
Why it is false: [documents that contradict it].
Harm so far: [orders, returns or sales change, with dates].
What we reported to Amazon and when: [route, date, result if known].

Your lawyer decides the next step. Never contact the reviewer with threats.

Mistakes

10 mistakes that keep Amazon reviews up, or put your account at risk

Each comes from Amazon’s own pages or the FTC rule.

Mistake	What Amazon or the law says	Do this instead
Reporting a review because it is negative	Amazon will not remove a review that complies with its guidelines	Report only a rule break
Asking the customer to change or remove it	Prohibited, even after a refund or replacement	Fix the problem and say nothing about the review
Offering a refund or gift for an update	Compensation to create, edit or remove a review is banned; 16 CFR 465.4 bans sentiment-based incentives	Give every customer the same remedy, with no condition
Contacting customers by email, phone or social media	All customer contact must go through Buyer-Seller Messaging	Keep every message inside Seller Central
Asking only happy customers for reviews	Diverting negative reviews to another channel is a violation	Use Request a Review for every order, or nothing
Inserts that say “contact us before leaving a bad review”	Amazon lists this as a violation customers should report	Use a neutral insert
Answering with reviews from friends or staff	Conflicts of interest; 16 CFR 465.2 and 465.5	Earn reviews through Request a Review and Vine
Hiring a service that promises to remove reviews or boost ratings	Amazon sues review brokers and holds sellers responsible for partners, even without their knowledge	Use Amazon’s report routes yourself
Mass-reporting a competitor’s reviews	Manipulating the Helpful or Report Abuse features is prohibited	Report only what breaks a rule, with evidence
Merging or linking listings to bury reviews	Variation abuse is a violation, and merging ASINs can lose reviews	Keep variations to true variants of 1 product

Amazon’s own pages:Amazon Seller Central: customer product reviews policies Amazon Seller Central: inappropriate product reviews Amazon Seller Central: communication guidelines

Optional

Often added

Optional, and none of these touches Amazon. Amazon decides every Amazon review; Essentras does not sell Amazon review removal.

Optional

Not ready yet?

Start with the free steps.

FAQ

Removing an Amazon review: FAQ

Can you remove a review on Amazon?▾

Only Amazon or the person who wrote it can. Amazon removes reviews that break its Community Guidelines, such as paid reviews, conflicts of interest, comments only about the seller or shipping, harassment or private information. Select Report under the review. Amazon says it will not remove a review that complies with its guidelines.

How do I delete a review I wrote on Amazon?▾

Go to Your Profile, choose the review in the Community activity section, then edit or delete it. Amazon says only the person who wrote a review can edit it. If Amazon removed your review for breaking its guidelines, you cannot review that product again.

How do sellers report a fake or unfair review?▾

Select Report under the review for a guideline break. For a competitor attack, go to Seller Central, select the Help icon, then Get Support or the Account Health dashboard, and Report Abuse. Amazon does not disclose the results, and removal is at its discretion.

How long does Amazon take to review a report?▾

Amazon states no deadline. After a report, its product page says it will investigate in the next few days. Seller Central says the results of investigations cannot be disclosed, and Amazon does not notify sellers when reviews are removed, so check the product page yourself.

Can a seller respond to a product review on Amazon?▾

Amazon’s help pages document public replies for seller feedback, not product reviews. Customer service for a negative review must go through Buyer-Seller Messaging, and Seller Central says brand representatives may contact a reviewer only when the customer started the contact. Never ask for the review to change.

Can I refund a customer to remove a negative review?▾

No. Amazon bans any compensation to create, edit or remove a review, including a refund offered to change a negative review, and the FTC rule bans incentives tied to a review’s sentiment. You may refund or replace to fix a problem, with no mention of the review.

Why did Amazon remove a review, or never publish it?▾

Amazon checks reviews against its Community Guidelines before posting and can remove them later, for reasons such as conflicts of interest, compensation, seller or shipping comments, private information or spam. Reviewers can also remove their own, and Amazon may limit reviews on a product when it sees unusual activity.

What is the difference between a product review and seller feedback?▾

A product review rates the product on its detail page; seller feedback rates the seller’s service on an order. Product reviews are reported with Report under the review; seller feedback is challenged in Feedback Manager within 90 days of the feedback, as our seller feedback guide explains.

Can I sue someone over a fake Amazon review?▾

In the US, generally only the author, not Amazon, because of Section 230, and only over a false statement of fact. Report the review first: Amazon’s guidelines ban libel and defamation. Talk to a lawyer before any letter, since unfounded legal threats to remove a review break the FTC rule.

Can Essentras remove an Amazon review for me?▾

No. Amazon decides every report, and Essentras does not sell Amazon review removal. We can give you a free case read by email: which of Amazon’s rules fits and how to report it, or that the review will stay. You file every report from your own account.

Next steps

01Find your row15 situations mapped to Amazon’s own rule and your move.Open the decision table
02Review or feedback?Check which you have before you press any button.See the difference
03Report itReport under the review; Report Abuse for an attack.The steps
04Send proofTemplates 1 to 4 for attacks, threats and paid reviews.Copy a template
05Unsure? AskSend the review link and ASIN for a free, honest case read.Get a free case read

Related guides

Sources and method

Sources, read on 19 Oct 2026

Checked on 19 Oct 2026

Every Amazon rule on this page comes from Amazon’s own pages, read on 19 Oct 2026. Seller Central help pages were read without a login through the help hub’s own public content endpoint; the report button and dialog were read on a live product page while signed out, without clicking. Amazon’s help pages carry no date, so the read date is the stamp. Amazon’s wording is paraphrased.

Amazon: Community Guidelines · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: Anti-Manipulation Policy for Customer Reviews · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: Customer Reviews · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: Understanding Customer Reviews and Ratings · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: Edit Your Reviews · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: Amazon Vine (customer help) · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: About Promotional Content · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: Comments, Feedback, and Ratings about Sellers · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon.de: report an issue or illegal content (EU) · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon.de: out-of-court dispute settlement · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: product reviews policies · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: answers about reviews · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: Report a violation · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: Can Amazon remove buyer feedback? · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: Request a review · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: inappropriate product reviews · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: customer product reviews · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: Contact customer · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: communication policy · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: reviews across variations · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: Amazon Vine · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: Vine FAQ · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: respond to buyer feedback · Read 19 Oct 2026
Seller Central: Report a Violation scope · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: Customer Reviews tool for brands (sell.amazon.com) · Read 19 Oct 2026
About Amazon: latest actions against fake review brokers (updated 8 Oct 2025) · Read 19 Oct 2026
About Amazon: 2025 Trustworthy Shopping Experience Report (22 Apr 2026) · Read 19 Oct 2026
About Amazon: how AI spots fake reviews (17 Nov 2023) · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: a trusted review experience · Read 19 Oct 2026
Amazon: global action against fake reviews (7 Nov 2025) · Read 19 Oct 2026
47 U.S.C. 230 (Cornell LII) · Read 19 Oct 2026
Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co., 497 U.S. 1 (1990) · Read 19 Oct 2026
15 U.S.C. 45b, Consumer Review Fairness Act (Cornell LII) · Read 19 Oct 2026
FTC: Consumer Review Fairness Act, what businesses need to know (Feb 2017) · Read 19 Oct 2026
16 CFR Part 465, Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (eCFR) · Read 19 Oct 2026
FTC: Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, questions and answers (Nov 2024) · Read 19 Oct 2026
Federal Register, 22 Aug 2024 (89 FR 68034): the final rule · Read 19 Oct 2026
16 CFR 1.98, civil penalty amounts (eCFR) · Read 19 Oct 2026
Federal Register, 15 Sep 2026 (91 FR 58446): 2025 penalty levels kept · Read 19 Oct 2026
FTC, 22 Dec 2025: warning letters to 10 companies · Read 19 Oct 2026
FTC, 13 Apr 2026: employee-written reviews (TruHeight) · Read 19 Oct 2026
FTC, 11 May 2026: fake 5-star reviews (Premium Home Service) · Read 19 Oct 2026
Cornell LII Wex: defamation · Read 19 Oct 2026
Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Digital Services Act (EUR-Lex) · Read 19 Oct 2026

What Amazon does not say, so this page does not either

Whether the Report dialog offers a list of reasons when you are signed in: Amazon’s guidelines say it does; the signed-out page shows only a confirmation.
The fields of the Report Review Compensation form and of Seller Central’s Report Abuse form: both sit behind a sign-in.
Any appeal against a declined review report in the US, and how long Amazon takes to decide.
An exact 2025 count of blocked fake reviews: Amazon says only “hundreds of millions”.
Whether brand owners can still contact customers who leave ratings under 3 stars, and whether sellers can reply in public to product reviews: Amazon’s help and marketing pages disagree.

Spotted an error? Tell us and we will check it against Amazon’s page. Report an error

General information, not legal advice. Essentras is not a law firm and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Amazon. Amazon decides every report on its platform; nobody can promise an outcome.

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